Microsoft signed a deal to purchase 100% of the output from a new 60-MW solar project in Singapore for its data centers. The agreement with Sunseap Group will draw from the country’s largest rooftop solar project, and it marks Microsoft’s first renewable energy deal in Asia.
Spanning hundreds of rooftops across Singapore, the new project is being led by solar provider Sunseap. Through a 20-year PPA, Microsoft will purchase 100% of the renewable energy attributes to the grid, the tech company says.
The deal creates the single-largest solar energy portfolio in Singapore to date, according to Sunseap and Microsoft. It’s also the first dedicated to serving data center energy consumption, the Green Blog says.
Singapore is home to data center services for Azure, Office 365, and many other cloud services for customers. The tech company launched operations in the country in 1990, and now has more than 850 employees there.
“With the agreement, Microsoft will improve the sustainability of our local operations and make important progress toward our corporate sustainability goals for data centers,” said Kevin Wo, managing director, Microsoft Singapore.
This deal is the company's third international renewable energy announcement. Last year, the company announced two wind power deals in Ireland and the Netherlands. A 15-year deal signed in October purchases 100% of the electricity from GE’s 37-megawatt wind farm planned for Ireland’s southwestern coast. In November, the company signed a PPA with Vattenfall to purchase all the electricity produced from a new 180-megawatt wind farm being built in the Netherlands.
The company's goal is to power half of its data center load with renewable energy in 2018. Once the project in Singapore becomes operational, its global direct procurement in renewable energy projects will total 860 megawatts.
